In Parcus Universitas
by Bandit Ken
Summary: Modern day Zelda fiction. A terrorist organization has stolen X-28 poison, and are planning to use it. Link and his team are dispatched to stop them from using it.


** Disclaimer:** I do not own Zelda.

** Note:** I have decided to make Gannondorf of the middle-eastern because of his dark complexion. I am not trying to imitate anything from the events currently going on in Iraq. Since I am Canadian, I am unsure how the American government goes. All I know is that there are senators and the president. Call me ignorant.

I won't be putting any pairings in this. All scenes with Link with another woman are for mutual relief.

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**In Parcus Universitas**

I

Bandit Ken

"Report in at headquarters immediately, Vir. Bring your team as well."

Vir, aka Link, sighed as he gently turned his communicator off. His boss Impa, aka Umbra, sounded worried. It's a bit odd for a high-ranking official in a secret government organization to let his emotions show. Enemies could take advantage of it.

The organization in question is named Echelon, meaning rank or level. A sensible name because they have more power than the president himself. They were responsible for the wellbeing of Americans all around the world. They act as counter-terrorists in situations where the threat of world safety is at risk. They operate in cells of four or five, usually four. The smaller the number is better for stealth, something that is very critical to Echelon; they do not want to leave any evidence of their presence behind. To do so would jeopardize the entire organization.

Link looked behind him at his team that he commanded. His team consisted of three more operatives. He could call them by their real names, Saria, Nabooru, and Darunia, but during times of a mission, you are not allowed to use their real names. If the cell screws up, the enemies won't know who did it.

Saria goes by the codename of Silva; Nabooru of Phasmatis; and Darunia of Incendia. Their organization had a knack for using Latin. Link never understood why, but he went with Latin anyways.

"Team, stand attention," Link said and the three pairs of eyes were immediately on him. "We have a report from Umbra; she wants us to report in at headquarters _immediately._ He sounded a bit worried, so I suggest we do what he says and go there now."

"Worried, ha! Not Umbra, she has too much class," Phasmatis, aka Nabooru, replied with laughter.

"Something must be up if Umbra sounded worried," came the reply of Incendia, aka Darunia.

"I agree, Link-"

Link cut Saria off with a small glare.

"I mean I agree, _Vir_, we should move out immediately," and this time, Saria was not interrupted.

One of Link's rules about his team was that they can never use their real names in a mission.

"Then we're in agreement," Link asked.

"Yes, sir."

"A helicopter is on its way to pick us up a few kliks southeast of here. It should arrive at 0500, so we have a bit of time to get there," Link told his cell.

Link rose from his cell and checked his checked his equipment; you can never be too sure. He examined his standard issue Echelon assault rifle, Colt-M4A1 Carbine, which was equipped with the SOPMOD M4 (Special Operations Peculiar Modification to the M4) quick detachable sound suppressor, ACOG x4 scope and an IR pointer/illuminator mounted on it.. He had only one clip left from the previous mission just an hour prior. His secondary sidearm was just a simple Colt-SOCOM (Special Operations Command) pistol with a laser scope.

Darunia, as well, carried the standard issue Echelon assault rifle, Colt-M4A1 Carbine, having the same SOPMOD M4 accessories. His sidearm of choice was the SIG P229. While Link and Darunia were carrying assault rifles, Nabooru was only armed with an H&K MP5-N, several 9mm clips for it, and explosives. Because she was the explosives expert in the cell, she chose to give up the weight of an assault rifle to compensate for the weight of the heavy explosives she is responsible for. Saria was the designated sniper in Link's cell, and she carried the Accuracy International Super Magnum (AWP for your CS fans), as well as the Colt Model 1911A1 as a sidearm.

Every weapon available at Echelon had a custom made sound suppressor made from it, even if the gun was foreign. Silence was something operatives at Echelon could not give up.

Link and his troops stuck low to the ground to avoid detection. Their previous mission had been a success. The area they infiltrated was thoroughly searched, but one can never be too sure. Slowly, they moved across the forest terrain Brazil, making their way to the extraction point.

Link's cell got there are precisely 04:50. They waited exactly ten minutes before the heard the familiar sound of a Hind Mi-24D/E helicopter approaching. Link took his cue and released a smoke grenade, alerting them of their position.

As soon as the smoke reached the sky, Link faintly heard foreign yelling.

"Shit, they've found us," Link swore.

Saria backed up and looked through her scope, "there's about fifty of them."

"Fifty," Darunia asked incredulously.

"The Hind better hurry up," Nabooru muttered while preparing her weapon.

"Silva, take out any of those bastards as you can," Link ordered, looking through his scope while unleashing a three-round burst and took down one.

The yelling grew louder until they heard the sound of numerous AK-47's (Automatic Klashnikov 47) going off.

_"Bastard terrorists always use AK's,"_ Link thought and took down a few more.

Link spoke through his communicator, "Ocelot Six, what's your ETA?"

"Our ETA is two minutes, Command Vir."

"Get here faster, we're under attack, I repeat, we're-"

Link was cut off as a bullet pierced his shoulder. He ignored the bullet wound and took down the one that shot him.

"Fire in the hole," Nabooru yelled and threw an HE grenade (high explosives grenade).

Four bodies went flying from the concussive effect of the grenade, and two died.

"We can't hold them off any longer," Darunia remarked frantically.

"Fuck, where the hell are you, Ocelot Six," Link yelled through his communicator.

As if on cue, a hail of gunfire appeared from the night sky in a blaze of light. The 12.7mm bullets rained down from the sky and literally chewed through the terrorists.

As soon as every one of them was killed, Ocelot One touched down. Saria jumped onto the hind first while the other three were on lookout. Next were Nabooru, then Darunia, and finally Link.

He walked up to the pilot, "you're a bit late."

"Sorry, Commander Vir, couldn't see your smoke that well in the dark."

"Whatever."

Link sat down and removed his Kevlar vest and unbuttoned his BDU (battle-dress uniform).

"You've been shot," Nabooru noted dryly.

"Let me help," Saria jumped for the gauze and wrapped it around the wound.

"Thanks," Link said.

When his wound was patched up, he made sure no one was looking before he took the glove off of his left hand. On it bore a symbol, a triangle with an inverted triangular "hole" in the middle. It divided the triangle into three perfect pieces. What was odd about it was that the bottom-right triangle was brighter than the others.

[]===---===[]

"General Gannondorf, Umbra," Link greeted as he walked into Impa's office. "I assume it is very important if it requires the presence of you, General."

"Do you know about the X-28 poison," Gannondorf asked, beginning immediately.

"X-28 is the supposed chemical weapon designed by the US government. It is very lethal; in fact, a teaspoon of it released into the air has a death radius of a kilometre. Its production was supposedly banned by the UN council after this realization." Link paused. "I suppose that isn't true."

"Very right, Vir, the US government continued R&D (Research and Development) of the X-28 poison despite the ban put in by the UN council," Gannondorf smiled. "And now the terrorist group Dragmire has taken a few kilos of the damned poison. We're damn fools for making it in the first place, eh? Guess we fucked ourselves."

"And it is our job to clean up the mess," Impa added.

"I'd best be going now, I left the information to your intelligence officer," Gannondorf got up and left.

Link waited a minute before speaking, "always get the bitch's work."

"So it seems," Impa agreed.

"I don't trust Gannondorf," Link commented. "Rauru was a very trained man, he shouldn't have been able to take out so easily."

"It is a bit odd for Rauru to slip up like that," Impa agreed.

"Now this General Gannondorf comes into the picture, it's all too… weird," Link finalized.

"I do have my suspicions, but the fact still remains that he is now the head of Echelon."

They sat in a moment of silence.

"What about Rauru's daughter… Zelda was her name, I think," Link asked.

"She is under Echelon protection per her father's orders," Impa answered. "She is to be placed under _your_ protection, Link."

"Mine, sir?"

"Rauru favoured you and he knows you and your cell are one of the best."

"But sir, my cell and I have no time for babysitting some naïve little child," Link retorted. "Besides, I thought I'm being sent out to Afghanistan to retrieve the X-28.

"You will abide by his orders, Commander Vir," Impa was stern.

Link paused for a moment before replying, "Yes, sir."

"And you will protect her when you are not on duty."

"Yes, sir."

"Good, then let me introduce you to Zelda herself," Impa pressed the intercom button on her desk. "Can you send Zelda in?"

"Yes, sir," came the stout reply.

Five seconds later, Zelda herself entered her room. Link turned his head to look and was awestruck, but he showed none of it. Sure, Link has been with a lot of women before, but they were just one-night stands. It was mutual relief between two parties, no emotion, and no regret. This Zelda girl; however, could be the start of something new in Link's life.

"Ms Zelda, please, have a seat," Impa motioned to an empty seat beside Link.

"Thank your, Impa," Zelda took her seat. "And you must be Commander Link."

"Commander _Vir_," Link collected.

"You are correct, Ms Zelda," Impa crossed her hands in front of her face. "This is the man who'll be protecting you."

"Protecting me? What are you talking about, Impa," Zelda asked wide-eyed.

"Your father's order, Zelda, is that if he should die, you will be placed under our protection," Impa explained.

"I don't need protection," Zelda stood up, anger blazing in her eyes.

"Apparently, in your fathers' eyes, you do."

"This is outrageous," Zelda paused. "Don't you have anything to say about this, Commander?"

Link thought for a moment. "I do have a problem with it, but these are my orders. I am to follow them to my fullest ability."

"If you may excuse me, Umbra, Zelda, I need to talk with Unda about our mission," Link stood up and left.

[]===---===[]

"The base seems pretty well-fortified," Darunia muttered.

"We're talking about Dragmire here," Nabooru said and flipped a page.

"Do we have a plan of attack, Unda," Link asked.

"Yes, but before we begin, I have to tell you something," Ruto said. "You will be bringing a chemicals expert with you; his name is Sheik and he will disarm the missiles and render the X-28 useless. His safety is imperative."

"Does this guy have any training in field combat? I don't want to be babysitting his ass throughout the mission," Nabooru said.

"According to the character profile, he has three months of training."

"It'll have to do," Link said, cutting in. "What about the mission?"

"Yes, well the mission will begin at 0100," Ruto began. "According to this map, the east wall is the lowest; this is your insertion point. Silva, you will take position about 200 metres away on this big hillside; it will give you a good vantage point on the entire base. You will have to take out the guard towers first before Link can proceed. When the guard towers are secure, your team will grapple along side the east wall. Intel has received that at 0115, there is a security change. During this time at 0115, your team will grapple along side the wall. You will only have 30 seconds to get over."

"That's enough time for us," Darunia remarked. "But what about Sheik?"

"He better make it," Nabooru answered.

"After you're inside the complex, you are to proceed to this building," Ruto circled a building near the middle of the compound. "Make your way to the missiles, and Sheik will do his work. Nabooru, once he is done, you are to head to the main power generator, located here. Nabooru, you are to place several C4 charges, enough to blow the damn thing apart. Escape, blow it up when you're enough distance away, and way for retrieval. Any questions?"

"I have one," Link said, looking thoroughly at the map. "Are our orders to kill the leader as well?"

Ruto took in a breath of air. "Killing the leader is optional, but preferred."

Link looked at the map for a minute, memorizing it. "Have you all memorized the map?"

They all answered positively.

"When do we leave," Saria asked impatiently.

"You'll be leaving at 2100; you will be dropped off at an Echelon camp near the target area."

"What about Sheik?"

"He'll meet you at the aircraft."

"Well guys, let's get ready."

[]===---===[]

Link opened the door to his "home". His "home" was just a plain apartment with no furnishing at all. He barely spent time at this place, mainly out doing missions or at headquarters examining data.

Link walked in, followed by Saria.

"No furniture yet?"

"No need," Link responded.

He walked to the window and looked out, out into the grassland that his window faced.

"I have a bad feeling about this mission," Link said, touching his scar on his left hand.

"You always say that," Saria remarked.

"This one's different," he paused. "I don't like it."

"You're thinking of what Rauru said before he died, aren't you," Saria said after a moment. "He said you'd know when it was going to happen."

Link paused. "I can feel it; I can feel it happening soon."

"Think of what he said, Link, he talked about an evil coming," Saria said. "Rauru was a good man, but what he talked about was nonsense! Evil this and evil that."

"Evil is evil."

"But evil can be many things from a broad perspective! An earthquake could be evil for god's sake!"

"Maybe," Link said, thoughtfully. "But the way he phrased the sentence, and the way he used evil, it seemed like he was talking about a human."

Link hesitated for a moment. "He also mentioned Dragmire."

"The name of this terrorist organization we're after," Saria said. "You don't think he means them, do you?"

"I think he did."

"Why would he mention them?"

"A warning. He knows something will go wrong, and that's why he warned us."

Silence.

"Maybe," Saria replied.

He turned around and walked next to Saria and put an arm around her waist. "We need to get some rest before the mission."

Saria grinned slyly. "I don't think we'll be getting any rest."

[]===---===[]

"Chemical expert Sheik reporting in for duty, sir," Sheik gave a quick salute.

"Well Sheik, how do you feel about this mission," Link asked, boarding the plane with Nabooru, Saria, and Darunia following.

"I'm feeling fine, sir, thank you for asking, sir!"

"This is not the military, don't be so formal," Link told him.

"Okay," was the simple response.

"Well, Afghanistan, here we come."

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** Note:** If the positive reviews outweigh the negative reviews, I will continue. This fic is just something I thought of while I was bored. Don't be surprised if it suddenly stops updated.

Looking for a pre-reader.


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